Pokémon Win, Lose, and Draw
by ChilanBerry
Summary: Roma Pomadoro finds himself at the Agricalean Pokémon League. The trouble is, the gate has been closed by some strange group. After finding a strange shrine, he travels back in time with the help of the Mythical Celebi. Can he and his allies defeat this mysterious Team Fortune to save the region? Rated T for language and occasional violence.
1. The Road of Champions

Roma awoke in his tent just as the sun peeked over the castle in the distance. Roma stretched his back and wondered if he should purchase a new sleeping bag soon. Hmm... Eh, this one was still usable; he just had to adjust the filling a bit every couple of hours. He stepped out the tent and started disassembling it. It was a relatively quiet morning, which was fine by him - the Pokémon in Falsmorel Cave were fairly tough. After he battled them, they didn't seem to be in too dire straits. Still, he couldn't help but let them use his Revives. He'd be able to by more at the Pokémon League, anyway. Roma started walking down the path, letting his mind turn around and run through the cave again.

A few birds twittered as he made his way there, singing a pretty song. Roma smiled; it really was a nice day, too - not too hot, not that cold for an early morning, visibility was good. Fall was a nice season. Well, winter was even better, but fall was a good lead up to it.

As he passed through the trellises along the well-worn, grassy path, Roma thought the flowers were rather nice. He didn't recognize any of the blooms, but he figured they were mountain flowers of some sort. Faded white marks and rough grooves covered the rock walls along Victory Road, a sign of fierce battles long past.

Indeed, the region of Agricales was embroiled in bitter war for many years, but for some reason lost to history, it had all petered out around three hundred years ago. The north half of the region, being rocky and mountainous as it was, had excellent defensive positions all throughout it. The Ramaria Sea to the south was always bustling with activity, having the two largest cities in the region there.

The path Roma followed was straight and paved now, with flowers like the ones on the trellises on either side. As the sun climbed higher in the sky, the castle - and the league within - got nearer and nearer. Soon enough, he came to the high gate separating the grounds proper from the road. The ornate iron door was sturdy enough to block a thousand strikes without giving an inch, with what amounted to a metallic mural forged onto it, depicting three great beasts and a shining bird charging to the sun. That wasn't what held Roma's attention, though; no, it was the two people standing in front of the gate arguing that Roma wanted to know about. They hadn't noticed him yet, so he moved to the side of the road as he eavesdropped.

"Alright, one more time, man, I can't tell you what I don't know," said the man closer to the door, who was wearing a strange jumpsuit with bright blue paint on it in odd lines, and had on a hair net.

"I can't accept that!" shouted the other man, with red hair and wearing a long-sleeved white tee. "You have to know something, or you wouldn't be here!"

The man in the jumpsuit shrugged. "I just do what they tell me to, man. It's a living."

"I need to get back in there! I need to prepare for the League. Let me in!" White Shirt shook his arms violently.

"It's a no go, man. I ain't even allowed back in there. Honestly, it's kinda unfair." Jumpsuit looked to the side.

"Why even do this, then? You're doing things you don't understand for reasons you haven't been told."

"Like I said three times now, it's a job. I'm in this for the money. All the reason I need. Arc, clean out your damn ears."

"How much are they paying you?" White Shirt reached down to his pants pocket, then flinched. "I might not have my wallet on me right now, but as soon as I'm back inside, I can-"

"You can't bribe me now, man; I'm already out here. I couldn't help you, even if I wanted to. I don't, by the way, so you might as well try to get help by heading down Victory Road and-" It was at this point that Jumpsuit noticed Roma standing some few yards away. "What the- Who're you?"

"I could ask you two the same question," Roma said. "Why is the League gate closed?"

"You're a Trainer?" asked White Shirt. Roma nodded hesitantly. "Good. We've got a problem - some group of terrorists have seiged Lucky Castle, and I don't know why."

"Why should I help you?" Roma asked. "From what I just heard, this guy doesn't know anything."

"You should help because it'd be better for us both to work together!" He shook his arms angrily.

"I'm jus' gonna let you two settle this," Jumpsuit muttered as he leaned back onto the gate. "Just enjoy the show."

"Why can't you get in on your own? You've got to be a strong Trainer if you're at the Pokémon League."

"My Pokémon are in the castle," White Shirt said. "I was on a morning walk and when I got back, the seige gate was shut tight, and he," he pointed at the Jumpsuit, "was standing in front of it. I've been trying to get anything I could out of him, but he's damn tight-lipped."

At this, Jumpsuit rolled his eyes and spoke up. "Hey, I told you, I'm just as in the dark as you. Arc, you need to make an appointment with the ENT, or what?"

"I need to get in there, too." Roma looked up. "It doesn't look too high."

"You've got a Flying-type with you?" White Shirt asked.

"Whoa, hey," Jumpsuit said. "I can't let you go over." He pulled a Pokéball from a pouch at his side.

"What?" White Shirt's head reared back. "You have a flying-"

"You Trainers usually say some kinda spiel about challenging people, right? So, I'm gonna challenge you to a Pokémon battle. How many flying Pokémon have you got?"

Roma looked at the Pokéball in his own hand. "I've got one."

"Alright. One-on-one, mine versus yours. First one out loses. If you win, I don't try to stop you from going over, and if you lose, you don't go over."

"How do I know you won't try to stop me anyway?"

"I don't have any other Pokémon, man," he replied. He opened his pouch again and turned it over, showing it was empty. "See? Nothing." He smirked, and gestured toward White Shirt. "Fussy over there can ref, so how about it?"

Roma looked between the two men. This really wasn't what he'd expected would happen today. Still, if this was the only way into the Pokémon League, he had to take the chance. He nodded. "You're on."

"Great. Let's back up a bit, so we don't ruin the pretty gate, huh?" He leaned up and walked back down the path. Roma and "Fussy" followed.

* * *

"Are you both ready?" White Shirt asked where the path turned from carefully-laid stone back to dirt. "This will be a one-on-one Single battle between the challenger and the challenged. They will use only their Pokémon that can fly. Neither battler may use items. Ready?" They nodded. "Send out your Pokémon!"

Roma threw a red-and-white Pokéball into the air and from it came a flash of white light; when it cleared, a shining, metallic bird with a sharply-angled face and slatted wings took a battle stance. A months-old scar ran across her right eye. Jumpsuit, likewise, sent out a purple bat with a large, droopy mouth and purple, spotty wings. It was a Golbat, Roma knew, and a local one. It definitely wouldn't be too tough to fight.

"Begin!"

"Tamaha, use Metal Sound!" At Roma's cue, the metal bird unleashed a harsh, grating noise from her wings, sending shivers through the spines of everyone present.

"Golbat, shut it up with Swift!" A light came from the bat's throat and stars erupted from its mouth, swirling around and striking its opponent in the back.

"Tamaha, you okay?" She looked back and nodded firmly. "Good. Glad you're a Steel-type. Now, use Steel Wing!" Tamaha lumbered up and brought its metallically-shining wings down on the Golbat.

"Dodge, Golbat!" It rolled backwards and out of Tamaha's range with seconds to spare. "Looks like your Skarmory's too slow, huh?" the jumpsuited man said. "It probably can't even bring you up, can it?"

"She can," Roma said. "She's tough."

"Right," he said, rolling his eyes. "Well, I'm not gonna get paid if I let you over, so Golbat, Curse!"

"Curse?" Roma said. Curse was a move that lowered a Pokémon's speed in exchange for physical power; he knew that much. Why bother using it on a Pokémon that was fast, against something good against physical attacks?

Roma's questions were answered, but his confusion only grew, when the Golbat seemed to pantomime driving a spike into its own skull, then stumbled backwards in pain. Roma's confusion turned to fear when Tamaha cried out in a similar pain and shut her eyes tight. "Tamaha, what's wrong?"

"Curse works differently for Ghost-types," White Shirt said. "It takes a Pokémon halfway to fainting, then drains its opponent."

"Hey, ref, aren't you supposed to be impartial?" Jumpsuit said, crossing his arms.

"Official battle rules," he replied. "You weren't gonna tell him, right?"

"How do I stop it?" Roma asked, balling his hands into fists. "Is there some kind of item, or - ?"

"You can't," White Shirt said. "Just beat him before I have to call it out."

Roma searched his mind for any way to finish this fight before Tamaha got hurt any more. "Tamaha, climb!" She shook her head to clear it, then charged at the wall.

"Pft, good luck hitting me there," Jumpsuit said, "Golbat's the other way!"

Tamaha dug her claws into the rough stone and clambered up the cliff, spreading her wings into the air and taking to the sky.

"What?!" He leaned his body backward to follow her up the wall, then threw out his arms to steady himself. "Golbat, use Swift, and knock it out of the sky!"

"Tamaha, kick off the wall!" As the Golbat fired off another set of stars, Tamaha flew into a wall and rebounded with the impact, while most of the stars struck the same spot she'd just bounced from. A few still hit her, but the damage was minimized. "Great, keep climbing!"

"Crap! Golbat, after it!" The Golbat flexed its wings and took off, soaring straight at Tamaha. "Wing Attack!" Its wings began to glow a bright blueish-white.

"Beat it down!" Roma called.

"What?!" White Shirt shouted, wide-eyed. Tamaha whirled around and smacked the Golbat straight down into the paved stones. "Oogh." He flinched.

"Stall and use Steel Wing!" Tamaha turned to the ground and pulled her wings back. As she slowed in the air, she began to lose altitude and sank like a stone. Her wings lit up with that shiny, metallic glow Steel Wing made.

"Crap, Swift!" Tamaha brought her wing down. The Golbat fired Swift. A cloud of dust obscured the rest, though.

White Shirt sliced his arms through the air. "That's enough! This match is over." As the cloud settled, the faint forms of Tamaha and the Golbat became visible, Tamaha on top and immobile, and the Golbat barely able to struggle beneath her.

"Tamaha," Roma said, running over to her. "You fought pretty well, but you definitely can't fight anymore," he said, loudly enough for White Shirt to hear.

"I agree," he said. Roma sent a red beam of light from Tamaha's ball to her unconcious body, enveloping her and bringing her back into it.

"Looks like I win, then," Jumpsuit said.

"Your Golbat can't fight either. This match is a draw."

"Yeah, but I did my job." He likewise returned his Pokémon, then waved a V-sign with a smug grin. "You guys can't get over the gate, right? Mission accomplished, and I keep my paycheck."

White Shirt slapped his forehead. "Ah, of course! How could I have-"

"Whatever, it doesn't matter now," Roma said. "Let's head back to the gate, maybe there's a way to get through we don't know about."

Uneasily, the two of them started walking back to the wrought iron gate, with the man in the jumpsuit following behind.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

I'm posting this on FFN now, but you can find the remainder of the fic on Ao3. As of this point in time, there's 38 chapters. I'll post these... once a week, maybe? I'll figure it out. I'm gonna be editing this one, though, so maybe you'll wait for this one.


	2. Time Altar-ation

Pokémon Portobello 2: Time Altar-ation

"It's no good," the man in the white shirt said. "There isn't a way over." He'd just spent a few minutes trying to climb the cliff to the right of the gate, and fell on his back every time. He sighed. "And I'm all dirty now, too. I should've learned how to rock-climb."

"You live surrounded by mountains, and you don't know how to climb them? Seriously, that never crossed your mind?" The man in the jumpsuit was leaning against the gate again, and posed the question.

"Well, if I needed something high up, then I always asked Gneiss."

"Wait, who are you?" asked Roma.

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh, right, I haven't introduced myself, have I?" He stuck his hand down his shirt and pulled out a card from his pocket. "Here, my card."

_He has a card?_ Roma thought as he accepted it. On the cream-colored card was printed "Trevor Dunnock, Elite Four Member, Normal-type", and some contact information. Roma raised his eyebrows in turn. "Elite Four?"

"Yep," he said, smirking. "Great to meet you, Mr..." He held out his hand.

"Ah, Pomadoro. Roma Pomadoro." He shook it.

"Who I was talking about was Gneiss Teller. He's another member of Elite Four, Rock-type. He can scale a wall like nobody's business, and he could... Wait, what are they doing?"

"What are who doing?"

"Gneiss, North, and Heather. They should all be up and about by now, why aren't they on the offensive?"

"Pro'ly got caught," Jumpsuit said. They turned to him. "Maybe di'n't make it outta their rooms, some'm'."

"The Elite Four doesn't just get caught," Trevor said, slightly haughty.

"I don't know, don't ask me, man." He shrugged. "Whatever the reason, they ain't launchin' an attack. We're out here, and they're in there."

"I hope the Pokémon in there are being taken care of," Roma said.

"I hope so, too," Trevor said. "I've been waiting for an Egg to hatch, and it seemed really close."

Roma turned to Trevor. "You've kept it incubated properly?"

"Of course. We've got excellent staff. I've got no doubt in my mind it's been well taken care of."

"Does that mean you haven't been checking on it?" Roma furrowed his eyebrows.

"No, I have, every other day or so. It's a quiet egg, is all. I've just been-"

"Hey, you two," Jumpsuit said. "Much as I'm enjoyin' 'Roma's Eggy Hour', how 'bout we cut it short and focus on the big gate? Seems a little more pressing."

Roma and Trevor looked at him, annoyed. Roma rolled his eyes. "Fine, I guess you're right. How are we going to get over this wall?"

"We can't, that's what we've just spent the last few minutes figuring out. Why don't you have any revival medicine?"

"I used it all in Victory Road; when there's a hurt Pokémon around, I always make it my priority."

"You didn't save anything? Go ahead and check," Jumpsuit said.

Trevor looked at him with a tilted head as Roma searched his pack. "Why are you encouraging him?" Trevor asked. "We're trying to stop you."

He shrugged. "Call it 'intelligence gathering', if you need to. I'm curious."

"Ah!" Roma pulled out a small tin of some kind. "I forgot I had these: Revival Herbs."

"Yes!" Trevor pumped his fist. "We can definitely get over with those!"

"Ugh, Tamaha doesn't like these bitter things, but I don't have any other options," Roma thought. He opened the tin and tried not to gag at the harsh smell the herbs had. "Alright, Tamaha," he said as he pulled out her ball, "you've got this!" He hurled it into the air, and the Skarmory emerged in a burst of light. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she made a disgusted face at the awful smell. Roma knelt by her side and said, "Tamaha, I know this isn't ideal. I don't want to force you to eat these," he held a few leaves of the herb, "but I also want to keep you healthy. So, do you think you can keep them down?"

Tamaha closed her eyes wearily, but opened them again and nodded. As she opened her beak, Roma lightly crumpled the leaves and gently set them in. The metal bird fought back a tear as she swallowed the herbs whole, recoiling from the pungent flavor and harsh texture. They did their job, though - within a few seconds, the aches all over body faded, and she felt her exhaustion fall away. She shook her head and stood firmly. Roma smiled.

"Why didn't she chew 'em?" the man in the jumpsuit asked.

"Revival Herbs have to be swallowed whole," Roma explained. "Their oils are really volatile. It's why a lot of Pokémon can't take them easily." He paused for a second, then opened the tin again. "Your Golbat should be able to-"

"Wait, what?!" Trevor shouted. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm giving him Revival Herbs," Roma said.

"Why? He's just going to attack again."

"If we try to go over the gate again, sure."

Trevor narrowed his eyes. "Are you implying what-"

Roma slammed his foot down. "Even if Tamaha's in good enough condition to take us both over, what do we do then?" He stared Trevor down. "Storm the place? Charge to where you keep your Pokémon? Without any medicine, we've got pretty bad chances of making it inside, and it'll only get tougher from there."

"So that's it? 'It's tough, so I don't want to do it'?"

"I'm not going to risk my Pokémon's health on a stupid charge into a bunch of people who could be trying to kill us." Roma turned to the other man. "Send out your Golbat, I'm treating him."

"Okay, sure," he said as he pulled the Golbat's ball from his pouch.

"Fine, we aren't going over the gate, I get that," Trevor said. "But why treat the Golbat?"

"I don't like seeing Pokémon hurt," Roma said, as if it were the last word on the subject. The Pokémon emerged from its ball, and sat there, clearly exhausted. Roma knelt down to it, just as he had to Tamaha. "Hello, Golbat. It's nice to meet you." Roma smiled.

"Ugh, this is stupid," Trevor said behind Roma.

Ignoring him, Roma continued. "I'd like to give you some medicine. It'll make you feel a lot better, but you can't chew it. It'll be pretty bitter, but I know you can handle it, right?"

The Golbat looked at him, confused. Weren't they just battling? It looked at its Trainer, who shrugged in response. It opened its mouth cautiously, and Roma set the leaves in just as gently as before.

"Try not to chew them," he said. The purple bat swallowed the herbs and shivered at the taste. Still, it began to feel better almost immediately, its Curse-induced headache evaporating. The Golbat smiled wide. "Glad you're feeling better," Roma said in response.

"Hey, thanks, man," Jumpsuit said. "I really appreciate it."

Roma turned to him angrily. "I wouldn't have had to do that if you hadn't taught your Golbat Curse. You obviously knew how it worked, so why put your Pokémon through that?"

"Hey, I didn't teach it that," he said defensively, raising his hands. "It's not really mine, they just give me whatever Pokémon they think I'll use. I got it back for this and it already knew it."

Roma sighed wearily and held his head. "Some people can't treat their Pokémon right, can they?" He straightened up. "Promise me you'll try to help him learn something else."

"Uh, yeah, I can do that," he said, shrugging. "Ain't gonna mean much, though."

"I'm going to hold you to that," Roma said seriously.

The three sat in silence for a while after that, Trevor fuming a bit and pacing, Roma caring for Tamaha, and Jumpsuit leaning against the gate. The sun climbed higher in the sky, and no noise came from behind the gate.

"Argh!" Trevor swung his arms down in a fit of anger. "What the hell is going on in there?! They're sure taking their time!"

"Well, if we're just waitin', why don't we try to pass the time by gettin' to know each other?" Jumpsuit asked.

Trevor narrowed his eyebrows and stared. After a moment, he said, "Fine. Can't stand this waiting. Let's start with you, then."

Jumpsuit waved his hand. "Ah, wait. Roma's gotta ask me questions. I'll ask you, then you ask him."

"What's the point of that?!"

He smirked. "To make you mad."

Trevor's face turned red and he let out a snort. "Congratulations," he said through clenched teeth. "It's working."

He laughed. "Alright, Roma," he said as he turned to Roma. "Ask away."

Roma thought for a second. "What's your name?" he asked.

The man in the jumpsuit thought for a second. "Well, I guess I owe you that much, you did heal my Golbat. My name's Ramson."

"Ramson?" Roma asked.

He nodded. "Ramson Skordo."

Roma nodded. "Thanks for telling me."

Ramson smiled. "Yeah, no problem. Now, Trevor."

Trevor, slightly less red-faced, said, "What?", less as a question than a dismissal.

Ramson, ignoring his tone, asked, "What's somethin' you haven't told anyone - no, hold on. What's some'n' you never told the other Elite Four?"

Trevor's face cooled down a little more as he thought. He hesitated, but said, "You'll probably laugh, but I can use magic."

Ramson, duly, let out a guffaw. Roma raised an eyebrow. "You mean you can cast moves and spells and things?" he asked.

"Ah, c'mon, he's just pulling our leg," Ramson said.

Trevor shook his head. "No, I'm sure I can use magic. Not like move magic, but..." Trevor trailed off, lost in thought, then his eyes lit up. "That's right! C'mon, Roma. I've got an idea." He bolted down the path. Roma and Ramson followed behind, at a slower pace,a long with their Pokémon.

When they'd caught up, Trevor stood in front of a boulder lying against the mountain-cliff wall. "Here! Watch!" Trevor pushed his hand against it, and it began to glow a bright green.

"Whoa, what?!" Ramson took a step back in shock. His Golbat's eyes grew as big as dinner plates.

"That's definitely something," Roma said, just about as shocked. Tamaha stared.

"See?" Trevor said. "No one I know has been able to do this, ever. What's even more impressive is what's behind it, though."

"Behind? Behind the glowing rock?" Ramson asked, incredulous.

"Would a Pokémon using Strength help with that?" Roma asked.

"No, that's just it," Trevor said, pumping his fists excitedly. "If you move it, there's nothing behind it, but while it's glowing, it can't be moved. And that's because there's some kind of secret passage behind it."

"A... secret passage," Ramson said. He slumped over and stared at the dirt, head shaking back and forth.

"Yes, and I just have... some kind of feeling." He nodded his head solemnly. "This is where we need to go to fix this."

"If it is, can we come in through the rock, with you?"

Turning back to the rock, he drew up his upper lip. "No, I'm the only one that can go through."

Ramson walked up to the still-glowing boulder and tried to lean his hand on it. His hand, and then the rest of his body, fell straight through it. He gave a shout as he plummeted.

It was Trevor's turn to be shocked. "The - how did you do that?! Wait, if you can - " He whirled to Roma. "Go touch it, too."

"Uh, what?"

"If he can't touch it, he can go through it," Trevor said excitedly. "If you can, too - you see what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, I guess?" Roma said uncertainly. He walked up to the boulder and tried to set his hand on it. Just as Trevor'd expected, his hand went through.

"Alright, so we can walk into some cave," Ramson said, dusting himself off. "What's that matter?"

"Come on, I'll show you," Trevor said as he walked straight through the boulder. Roma returned Tamaha and followed behind him, and with a shrug, so did Ramson.

The three emerged from the cave and found themselves in a clearing in a deep, green forest. Directly ahead of them was a squat, decrepit, and old structure made of gray stone and covered in deep green moss.

"Here we are!" Trevor held his arms out. "This is the forest shrine."

Roma looked around. Besides the stone structure, which he assumed was the "shrine" in question, there wasn't much of note there. The trees, covered in vines, seemed eerily quiet, and the air just as still.

Ramson said, "So why are we here? This shrine gonna help us take the castle?"

"What do you mean, 'us'?" Trevor asked.

"Eh," he shrugged, "I'm a simple guy. Someone helps me out, I gotta help 'em back."

Trevor raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's all it takes?"

"Hey, if you don't want my help - "

"How did you think this shrine could help?" Roma asked. It really wasn't his problem whether or not Ramson followed them.

Trevor refocused. "Right, well, get closer to the shrine," he said, gesturing to it.

As Roma walked closer, the moss covering the shrine seemed to die - no, it seemed to shrink, and grow lighter, grow younger. The stone the shrine was made of seemed to reverse its erosion, and sometimes defied gravity and put itself back together. "What exactly am I looking at here?"

"Isn't it odd?" Trevor said. "The shrine seems like it goes through time in reverse as you get closer. If there's some way to harness it - "

"We could go back in time?" Roma finished.

"Exactly!" Trevor jabbed his finger at Roma. "The only question is how."

"Could it be a Pokémon?"

"That could be," Trevor said, bringing a thumb to his mouth, "but if it is, which one could it be?"

"Probably some'm' to do with time," Ramson said.

"Right." Trevor nodded. "There aren't many that fit that bill, though. None spring to my mind, anyway."

"Could just be a move."

"That's not possible," Trevor said. "There aren't any moves that can manipulate time like this."

"Trick Room is closest," Roma said, remembering his trip to the Comatus City Gym, "and it doesn't reverse time so much as slow down or speed up Pokémon. It's probably a Pokémon's innate ability, then."

"Likely a powerful one. Rare, too." Trevor bit down on his thumb. "I've never heard of a Pokémon time traveling, have you?"

"I haven't," Roma said. "This would be easier if we had, though."

"Maybe a Legendary Pokémon?" Trevor closed his eyes. "Let's see, there's Dialga," he suggested. "From Sinnoh. Remember, from the Team Galactic incident that was all over the news a few years ago?"

"I wasn't old enough to pay attention to that stuff," he said. "But what's Dialga? What type of Pokémon is it?"

"It's Steel-Dragon-type, and it keeps time flowing."

"What part of that is time, Steel or Dragon?"

"The Dragon part, I guess," Trevor said.

"Wouldn't it be the Steel part?"

"What does metal have to do with time?"

"What do dragons have to do with time?"

"Well, I guess, but-"

"Celebi," Ramson interjected. "I think it could be a Celebi."

Trevor looked at him. "Celebi? Who's that Pokémon?"

"It was in a movie I saw a while back. The hero - well, one'v'em, anyway - he met a Celebi an' went 50 years ahead, or so. He got back to his own time in the end after, y'know, the plot of the movie."

"Hm..." Trevor nodded slowly. "It could be, but we'd need a better idea of what it's like."

"Remember anything else about it?" Roma asked.

Ramson wracked his brain. "I haven't seen it since I was a kid. No, yeah, I think I've got something. I remember it got turned into a giant monster made outta tree roots."

"Tree roots?" Trevor looked at the ground, and at the bases of the trees. "There might be something to that."

"It needed to get in some fresh water, too, to heal up."

"What did it look like?"

"Looked like a green fairy, its head looked kinda like a teardrop 'r an onion, some'm like that."

"Probably a Grass-type," Trevor said. "Maybe Fairy? Doesn't really sound like a time Pokémon..."

"It could be Psychic," Roma suggested.

"Maybe, maybe." Trevor looked around at the trees. "Psychic could work. Trick Room's Psychic," he mumbled, hand back at his mouth.

"If we're tryin' to bring it here, we should try offering some'm at the shrine. Sound like a good idea?" Ramson said.

"I've got a few berries," Roma said. "That could work."

Trevor nodded. "Let's try it. Here, use this."

Roma set a few berries of varying flavors on the handkerchief Trevor handed him. As he backed up from the shrine, it began to glow with a soft green.

"It's working!" Trevor exclaimed. As the shrine's glow grew brighter, the sound of a great bronze bell began to resound throughout Victory Road, cleansing the air and leaving even the Pokémon within Falsmorel Cave feeling refreshed. The three in the clearing shielded their eyes from the bright glow.

As the ringing and the glow faded, they opened their eyes to two new things: the old, greened bronze bell that hadn't been there before now sat within the shrine, and a green fairy-like Pokémon with a teardrop-shaped head and arms with tassel-like trails floating in the air above it.

Ramson helpfully chimed in, "Yep, that's a Celebi," as if he needed to. Celebi gave a wave in response.

Roma blinked and swallowed. This was the Pokémon that could time travel? It was... oddly cute.

"Celebi!" Trevor was the first to say anything important. "Thank you for answering us." He bowed deeply.

Celebi waved him off with a smile. It seemed perfectly happy to come by.

"Celebi, we, of course, didn't send for you for nothing." Celebi frowned and dropped its eyelids.

"I think it'd prefer something more direct," Roma said. "Can you help us keep the League from closing up?"

Celebi nodded heartily. Of course it could help! That was what Roma read, anyway.

"Great!" Ramson clapped his hands together. "Let's get goin', then, I guess. Now, do-"

Celebi shook its head, eyes closed and waving its arms.

"W-Huh?"

Celebi thought for a second, then pointed at Roma.

Roma pointed at himself. "You mean, I'm the one going back in time." It was a statement, not a question.

Trevor interjected, "So why can't we go back, too?"

Celebi pantomimed an old camera. Trevor made a confused face.

"It's the paparazzi, right?" Roma said. Celebi nodded.

"Ah, right," Trevor realized. "I can't go anywhere with the press hounding me. I certainly can't go incognito to fight terrorists."

"Well, that explains you," Ramson said. "Now, why am I on the no-fly list?"

"Beside the terrorist thing?" Trevor remarked.

"I could quit!"

Celebi shook its head and pointed at Ramson. "That's why," Roma translated. "If you quit your job, you'll get hounded, too."

Ramson raised his eyelids. "Crap, you're right. I can think of a few people who'd raise hell if I left. Argh, great. Why am I even here?"

Celebi tilted its head in sympathy. It pointed at Roma, then Ramson with its other hand, then put its hands together. "We'll meet up again?" Roma asked Celebi.

Celebi nodded, then looked back at Ramson and pantomimed a furtive whisper. "Oh, tell a secret to me," Roma said, "that I can tell him to trust me." Celebi nodded again.

Ramson looked at the two people there. After a hard second, he pulled his hair net off. Trevor took a half-step back, while Roma just raised his eyebrows. "It's, uh, hereditary. Dad's started when he was fifteen, too. The net's not standard uniform. I try to keep quiet about it."

Roma recovered and nodded. "I'm defintely going to remember that. And now that I've got that memorized... I guess let's go." Celebi nodded and raised its arms.

"Wait!" Ramson called. Celebi flinched and stopped what it was doing. "How's this time travel work, anyway? There's plenty of ways it could screw him over."

Celebi's jaw slackened a little, as if it was about to say something, but it just reached its hand into a green portal it conjured up and pulled out a packet of paper, which it tossed halfheartedly at Ramson with an eye roll.

Ramson leafed through the papers. "What the h - What is this written in, Old English?" He turned the page over, then another. "Oh, no, that first page was just written in moon runes for some reason."

"Was it Japanese?" Roma said, leaning over the paper. "I can read - "

"Nope. Near as I can tell, it's just some weird comboes of Latin letters. Look, I'll just read out anything that isn't in this weird writing style." He stole a glance at Celebi. "And I'll do it quick enough to where that guy doesn't roll his eyes at me any harder than he already is."

"You probably shouldn't be trying to make a Legendary Pokémon angry," Trevor said.

"Yeah, it's not as fun as you. It doesn't turn three different shades of red."

"Alright, let's get on with it," Roma said, cutting off Trevor's indignant anger. "I'd rather not waste time here."

"Good point. You might wind up losing that time once you go back. Give me a sec." He turned over a few pages of the packet and said, "You're gonna move your memories through time, not your body, unless you haven't got one then. Yer memories'll mix with the past you, or... something, 'n' so will some special things you got." (Flip, flip.) "You're going back to change something, but a lot of stuff is going to happen whether you want it to or not. Geez, this is vague. Does this guy even know what he's talking about?"

"What guy?" Trevor asked.

"Gotta flip back to the start; hang on." He stuck his finger into his spot and turned the pages back. "Victor Mycelli, I think? His handwriting's just plain bad, too."

"Huh, sounds like one of Heather's relatives." At Roma and Ramson confused looks, he supplied, "Heather Mycelli. The Grass-type Elite Four member. She's got pretty bad handwriting, too."

Ramson turned back to his previous page. "Guess it runs in the family, then. Well, I guess this guy must have studied Celebi, 'r whatever. Anyway, once you get back here, on Victory Road, you'll really notice the changes... I think. This guy's notes are about twenty times too wordy, even when they ain't written like he's having a stroke."

"Specifically Victory Road?" Roma asked.

"Wherever you started from, pro'ly." He flipped to the last paper in the packet, and sighed. "Man, all those words, and so little we could actually use." He chucked it into the air, where Celebi sent it back into the portal with one last eye roll. "Whoever taught that Mycelli guy should've probably given him a writing class." He waved at Roma. "Well, look me up once you get back to the past! I won't have any clue who you are, but that didn't stop me here, so..." He shrugged.

Celebi smiled and offered its hand to Roma. He took it, barely hesitating. A portal, like the one Celebi had pulled the papers from, appeared below the two and Roma immidiately fell into its green abyss.


End file.
